By: Beau Boughamer

Last night Larry King interviewed philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry and her husband, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).  Teresa Heinz Kerry was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, so a great deal of their conversation dealt with health care.  It included a discussion of the important role of health centers.

KING: How much did you have (INAUDIBLE), Teresa, would cost — you didn’t pay for it, right, in insurance?

T. KERRY: We paid some. But I have insurance. And —

KING: How many people have what you have and don’t have insurance? We don’t know.

T. KERRY: Well, I don’t know that. But —

J. KERRY: About 50 million people who don’t have insurance — 47 million.

T. KERRY: Yes. And — but one of the things they’re trying to do with a women’s health bill — I mean, the women’s portion, which Olympia and (INAUDIBLE) wrote, is to cover all women for mammograms and —

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Right now they’re not covered?

T. KERRY: Not all women, no.

J. KERRY: Not necessarily. It depends on your —

T. KERRY: No. Now there are free clinics and even buses in places in — where you can go in and get it done. I mean, I like the Bernie Sanders community health care, he wanted $10 billion for community —

J. KERRY: Community centers.

T. KERRY: — centers.

(CROSSTALK)

T. KERRY: And I’ve visited a lot of those in Iowa, in Washington, and all over. And Louisiana had an amazing community health centers. And they are a very intimate, good personal place where local people can go for very —

KING: We still have a long way to go, though.

T. KERRY: And they pay for your drugs for almost — almost completely, because they’re subsidized by the government.

KING: One more —

T. KERRY: But we have a long ways to go, yes.